Environment - Gulf Coast

An aerial image of an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, taken on April 28, 2018.  (Handout photo by Oscar Garcia-Pineda, Water Mapping, LLC)

circa.com - by Julia Boccagno and The Associated Press - October 24, 2018

Millions of gallons of oil have been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico for more than 14 years, forming what is poised to become one of the worst environmental disasters in the United States, according the Gulf Restoration Network, which has been tracking the chronic leak.

"There has been an uptrend of the areas of the slick during the last two years," wrote Oscar Pineda-Garcia, who runs a company that maps oil spills and is an adjunct professor at Florida State University.

Environmental leaders suggest that the Taylor Energy Co. oil spill has dumped anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 gallons of oil a day since 2004, when its platform collapsed during Hurricane Ivan.

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Fish are seen washed ashore after dying in a red tide in Captiva, Florida, on Aug. 3, 2018.Cristobal Herrera / EPA file

Doctors in southwest Florida say they've seen an increase in patients complaining of breathing problems.

nbcnews.com - by Annie Rose Ramos - September 2, 2018

 . . . The red tide . . . poses a health risk to people. The microorganisms emit brevetoxins, which can get blown into the air. When the toxins are breathed in, they constrict passages in the lungs, causing people to cough and have difficulty breathing.

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Algae bloom covers northern Lake Pontchartrain

nola.com - by Mark Schleifstein - March 26, 2018

Large areas of Lake Pontchartrain are now covered with algae that may be the so-called blue-green version, which are often toxic and can cause a variety of health effects in humans and pets, officials with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation announced Monday (March 26).

That conclusion is based on aerial photographs taken by Patrick Quigley with Gulf Coast Air Photo, and observations by boaters, both of which found a large area of green to blue-green material on the surface of the lake along the North Shore and on both sides of the northern third of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

Blue-green algae is actually made up of cyanobacteria, which can produce a variety of toxins -- or poisonous substances -- that can affect the liver, kidney and the reproductive system, and can cause abdominal pain, headaches, sore throats, nausea, diarrhea,  pneumonia, tingling or burning sensations, numbness, drowsiness, and respiratory paralysis, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Photo from Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

nola.com - by Tristan Baurick - June 28, 2017

A fast-moving plague of foreign insects is decimating marshlands that bind the fragile lower Mississippi River Delta. Identified only two months ago, the Asian bug is wiping out vast stands of roseau cane, Louisiana's most erosion- and storm-resistant wetland plant. As marsh rapidly turns to open water, the state has come up with no money or viable solutions to combat loss.

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CLICK HERE - Louisiana’s coast was already sickly. Now it’s being hit by a plague.

CLICK HERE - State Issues Warning on Transporting Roseau Cane